A 15-year-old boy survived after an 18-foot fishing vessel capsized in the icy waters of the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, but two of his crew members perished, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The teenager was discovered sitting atop the overturned boat on Monday morning, approximately four miles from St. Lawrence Island. Lt. Cmdr. Jonathon Resch, the Coast Guard pilot who spotted the survivor, described the operation as an “emotional roller coaster” during an interview with ABC News.
“We are beyond excited and beyond grateful that we found him, and at the same time, we are overwhelmingly remorseful that we didn’t find the other two in time,” Resch told correspondent Trevor Ault.
The fishing vessel had departed from Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island on Friday and was scheduled to return early Sunday. When it failed to arrive, authorities launched a search and rescue mission on Sunday night. However, adverse weather conditions prevented the Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from beginning their search until Monday.
Resch called the discovery of the teen “nothing short of miraculous,” noting that survival in such conditions is rare. “People don’t survive those scenarios,” he said. “People don’t flip boats and survive nights. They don’t do it in warm water, let alone in water that’s, you know, 40 degrees.”
While awaiting the arrival of the good Samaritan vessel Northwest Explorer, the aircrew dropped flares and life rafts into the water to help mark the location of the overturned skiff. Resch referred to the eventual boat rescue as “another miracle in itself.”
Video footage from the scene showed the teen kneeling on the inverted hull as he was pulled from the water using a heaving line and transferred onto the Northwest Explorer. The survivor exhibited symptoms of hypothermia. The bodies of the two deceased boaters were also recovered from the water.
All three individuals were transported to Nome. The Coast Guard has not yet released the names of the deceased or the teenage survivor.
Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard’s Arctic District, issued a statement expressing condolences to the families and communities affected by the loss. He also thanked the motor vessel Northwest Explorer, along with federal, state, and village first responders, for their roles in saving the teen’s life.
I hope the community around St. Lawrence Island is okay. Losing two people in such a tragic way is heartbreaking.
How did he stay conscious on top of the hull for hours? That water must have been bone-chillingly cold.
It is absolutely miraculous that the boy survived those freezing temperatures. Truly a testament to human resilience.